


Truth, Justice and the Blah Blah Woof Woof

by glitterfics



Category: Dark Angel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, First Time, M/M, darkangel_bb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-19
Updated: 2011-08-19
Packaged: 2017-10-22 20:30:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/242275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterfics/pseuds/glitterfics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Welcome to the city of Seattle where Blaze Girl and her superpowered friends keep the streets free from crime and battle against the evil Manticore. But who is the mysterious Monty Cora and what does he want with Eyes Only? Find out the answer to all this and more in '<i>Truth, Justice and the Blah Blah Woof Woof'</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Truth, Justice and the Blah Blah Woof Woof

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks once again to the always amazing [lazydazy](http://archiveofourown.org/users/lazydazy) for the beta. I did tinker with this at the last minute so any remaining mistakes are mine ♥
> 
> [davincis_girl](http://davincis-girl.livejournal.com) has made the most amazing piece of art for this [over here.](http://davincis-girl.livejournal.com) Go and check it out, it's fantastic! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
> 
> I don't own Dark Angel or any of the characters (except the sprinkling of OCs) but I do like to play with them occasionally. Also, I think that I got the reflective material thing from one of the CSIs so I don't own that either.

Logan stared out of his window at the silhouette of a woman standing on the Space Needle; hands on hips, cape flapping behind her and snorted gently. It still amused him, the idea of superheroes actually existing. Even knowing Max, aka Blaze Girl, didn’t stop him from occasionally having to pinch himself and confirm that, yes, this was his life.

Pre-pulse he had grown up watching superhero cartoons and reading comic books. Logan could clearly remember tying a pillowcase around his neck while he and his sister leapt from bed to bed, re-enacting the best bits. He was always his favourite character: Justice Boy, cleaning the streets of bad guys and battling supervillains.

He sighed wistfully and glanced down at his useless legs. Well he couldn’t do much battling of villains these days, super or not, but he could keep hunting down the bad guys as his alter ego ‘Eyes Only’. And he could help Max and her friends in their fight against the evil Manticore with his knack for making gadgets. That would have to be enough.

Looking back up at the Space Needle Logan noticed that Max had disappeared, having probably spotted some crime from her perch above the city. Logan pushed himself away from the window and back to his desk. Break over; time to get back to work.

Picking up his tools he started to make adjustments to a new gadget he was working on – an untraceable comms system which would allow Blaze Girl to keep in touch with him and whoever else was patrolling with her. Losing himself in the delicate work, over three hours had passed before Logan heard a voice behind him.

“I got the information you needed on that Beaumont guy. It’s amazing how quickly dirtbags start talking when you smack them around a bit.”

Logan smiled as he turned around to face Max who was perched on top of one of the filing cabinets in her full Blaze Girl regalia.

He and Max had long since gotten over their mutual attraction to one another; she because she was too focused on her mission of bringing down Manticore and he because he didn’t want to be in a relationship where he constantly worried that his disability was holding his partner back. Despite this, Logan wasn’t exactly immune to the sight of Max in her costume of a tight fitted midnight blue lycra catsuit and eye mask. He’d probably have to be dead not to be affected; especially when the only other colour in the costume was an orange flame serving as a badge on the left-hand side of the chest that drew the eye to a very distracting part of her anatomy.

He’d once asked her why the open V on the front of the catsuit had to reach all the way down to her utility belt and Max had shrugged and said that it worked well as a diversion, so she’d obviously known the reaction she was going to get when she designed the costume. She probably hadn't realised though that it would cause such a reaction that a group of teenage boys had started up their own little crime wave, breaking into shops and businesses etc., just so that Blaze Girl would capture them. That incident had caused no end of amusement for Logan and Original Cindy; even Matt Sung had trouble keeping a straight face as he hauled the kids into the back of the police van.

“What did the ‘dirtbags’ say?” Logan asked, getting back to the subject in hand.

“You were right,” she said, popping her bright pink bubblegum, “Beaumont’s paying off the Sector Police to make sure they stay away from certain areas at certain times. They didn’t know where the next shipment is going to be but the one who will forever regret grabbing my ass told me that the Sector Police bribes are going through a Chief Stokes.” She stopped and smirked at Logan. “I’m guessing that the good Police Chief is soon to be the star of an Eyes Only broadcast?”

“Maybe.” Logan frowned thoughtfully. “Or maybe that could tip our hand too soon. I’ll run the name past Matt and see what he knows. In the meantime...”

Logan turned back to the desk and picked something up, throwing it to Max. “I’ve finished the comms. It’s small enough that no one will be able to see it unless they’re specifically looking for it. Just put it in your ear, switch it on and everyone tuned into that frequency - which will only be people you want because it’s unhackable - will be able to hear you. I’ve got another for myself, one for OC and a few spares in case Zack or any of the others show up.”

Max grinned and turned the tiny earpiece over in her hand. “Logan, you really know which gifts are the way to a girl’s heart.”

Logan laughed. “Who needs flowers and wine when you can have electronic surveillance equipment? You’ll pass OC’s along?”

“Sure, but I don’t think you’ll ever win her heart no matter how nice the gifts are; she’s still battling Sketchy for that new girl at Jam Pony.” Max joked, referring to her day job.

Original Cindy hadn’t come to the superhero business the same way that Max had. A few months earlier a group of supervillains known as the Reds had kidnapped her as bait to lure Blaze Girl to their lair. The leader of the Reds had then decided to turn OC into one of his team; he had a flair for the dramatic and the idea of Blaze Girl being defeated by her best friend appealed to him.

He had placed an implant at the base of her skull that gave Original Cindy superhuman strength and speed. It had also put her entirely under his control. Once the fight was over and Blaze Girl had defeated the Reds, she had brought an unconscious OC to Logan and, between him and a contact of his who was an expert in cerebral implants; they managed to zap the device enough that OC was in control of her own thoughts again. They couldn’t remove the device however as it was hardwired into her brain and Sebastian predicted that to do that would cause irreparable brain damage. So OC kept her new found powers and Max gained a new sidekick – Boo.

Max checked her watch. “I’d better blaze. I’m expecting Zack to check in and let me know if anything came from that lead he was tracking down.”

Logan nodded knowing that, no matter how many patrols for petty criminals Blaze Girl, Perfect Soldier and the others did, taking down Manticore was always going to be top priority for them. He opened his mouth to say good night but a small gust of wind washed over him and Max was gone.

As she jumped off the roof of Logan’s building and glided towards downtown and her own apartment, Max failed to notice a dark shape watching her before it melted back into the shadows.

***

As well as frying every electronic device in the western world, wiping the bank accounts and effectively turning the richest countries into the broken places they were now; the Pulse and the blackout that had followed also caused the meltdown of a handful of nuclear reactors around the globe. It only happened to the least maintained nuclear facilities and proper containment was set up around them very quickly but it wasn’t quick enough to stop small areas around each of the facilities being affected.

One of those small areas was on the outskirts of Seattle. It was an area that was remote enough that the land was very cheap and a well-meaning philanthropist by the name of Sandeman had built an orphanage there. At the time of the Pulse there had been over a hundred children living at the orphanage, all of whom had inhaled the small cloud of nuclear dust which passed over them. A few months later most of the children began to change; some of them mutating enough that they no longer looked human, others keeping their human features but gaining new abilities.

All of them became faster and stronger than any child should be.

Unable to cope with what was happening to his children Sandeman turned to the government for help. But the post Pulse government was in shambles, ripe for corruption, and when Sandeman’s request landed on the wrong table Manticore was created.

The new agency quickly moved into the orphanage, killing Sandeman and the other adults, and herding all of the scared kids into vans. Those who tried to stand up to the soldiers invading their home were quickly subdued with tazers. Of all the children in the orphanage only twelve of them managed to escape. Max was one of them.

Logan first met Max after she’d broken into his home believing that he’d kidnapped the wife and child of a senator. Of course he hadn’t, he’d actually been keeping them safe from the bad guys who really _did_ want to kidnap them. Once that misunderstanding had been cleared up Max had already discovered the room where Logan kept his hacking equipment. It became fairly obvious at that point that Logan was Eyes Only the ‘cyber terrorist’ who went after bad guys and gave people hope with his weekly television cable hacks. Of course by that time Logan had also figured out that Blaze Girl and the Jam Pony bike messenger who’d been caught on camera casing his building earlier that day, were one and the same.

Sometimes Logan really loved his far too expensive security system.

When Blaze Girl had offered to help Logan transport the Senator’s wife and daughter to a safe house the next day Logan had jumped at the chance. It turned out to be a great decision as they were attacked en route by a small group of mercenaries. Obviously the men who wanted Lauren and Sophy were willing to pay big bucks to get the job done and Logan believed, given the speed that everything went to hell, that all of them would have been killed if not for the superhero. As it was the bodyguard Logan hired was shot in the chest and Logan had taken a bullet to the spine but,thanks to Max’s speed and flying ability, the attackers were unable to finish the job. Lauren and Sophy were able to get out of the city while Logan gained Max’s respect and friendship.

In the months that followed, Logan had nothing better to do than recover from his injuries and get used to the fact that he would never walk again. He didn’t really want to think about the latter so instead he busied himself with an idea he’d come up with to help Max. She’d mentioned during one of her frequent visits that she often used her cover as a messenger to scout buildings for any criminal activities. Knowing that criminal empires tended to be the where most money was these days Logan guessed that they likely had even better security than he did. If he had linked Max the messenger on his security tapes with Blaze Girl so quickly, then it was only a matter of time before someone else did too. In fact it was a minor miracle that no one had before.

Logan knew from experience that highly reflective material caused problems for recording equipment. Basically the material would pick up any kind of light surrounding it, especially sunlight, and reflect it. Not a problem for the human eye but it caused a glare that cameras couldn’t see past; basically anything that reflective would show up on camera as a white blur.  
After a couple of months of solid work Logan finally managed to come up with a spray on liquid. It was clear, non toxic and didn’t stiffen as it dried, but it would add a reflective sheen to any clothing. If it was sprayed, for example, on a bike messenger’s hat, it was cause a big enough glare on camera to cover that messenger’s face.

Upon receiving the gift from Logan, Max excitedly insisted on testing it out and then put in an order with him for more of the liquid so that she could pass them on to the other orphans who’d escaped with her and were doing the superhero thing in different cities. The positive responses immediately flew in from Sonic Guy, Osprey, Pixie Dust and the rest leading Logan to wonder what else he could come up with to help them. He’d found something that stopped him from feeling so useless; it gave him something to live for and the confidence to pick up the Eyes Only mantle again.

***

Logan was disturbed from his late night reminiscences by a small flashing light on his bedside table. His far too expensive security system had picked up an intruder in the apartment. He reached over and turned it off, simultaneously hitting the button which would alert Max that he was in trouble. Then he silently pulled on his glasses before pulling open the drawer to get his gun.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Logan turned towards the direction of the voice and saw a man casually leaning on the frame of his bedroom door.

“Who the hell are you?” Logan demanded, keeping his hand in the drawer and wrapped around the gun.

The man was dressed in the uniform of Manticore; all black from his military issued boots to the mask which covered his hair and the top half of his face, leaving two holes for his eyes. Even his leather gloves were black with a chimera, the Manticore emblem, embroidered on the back of each in gold.

Logan knew that Max and the others had battled Manticore soldiers, essentially the orphans that had been left behind and brainwashed into working for Manticore’s own ends. He also knew that they hated it and tried to talk the soldiers into leaving Manticore, tried to make them see that they were working for the bad guys. However, it had been over a decade since the nuclear dust had covered the orphanage and Manticore’s training and indoctrination ran deep; they’d only been able to persuade one girl, Jace, to leave so far.

The appearance of one of the soldiers in Logan’s apartment was definitely not a good sign but Logan just had to keep him talking until Max showed up.

The soldier sighed and held out his hand, quirking his first two fingers back towards himself. The gun flew out of Logan’s grip, out of the drawer and landed neatly in the man’s hand. Logan raised his eyebrows in surprise. _Telekinetic._

“The name’s Monty Cora.” The soldier told Logan conversationally as he effectively dismantled Logan’s gun.

Logan rolled his eyes. “Monty Cora ? Really?”

 _Monty_ shrugged. “It’s a play on Manticore.”

“Yeah, I got it,” Logan replied scathingly, “It’s not exactly subtle.”

“Not supposed to be,” _Monty_ said, “And it’s better than _Blaze Girl_. What the hell kind of name is that anyway? It’s not like she can set fire to things with her mind or anything. ..Oh no, wait. She’s a friend of yours isn’t she?” He widened his eyes in mock horror at his ‘faux pas’.

Logan fought to keep his emotions from his face. This guy knew way too much about him, which also meant that Manticore knew way too much about him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Logan said instead, proud of the steadiness of his voice.

“Sure you don’t,” the guy smirked, “It was a totally different flying girl that I tracked here earlier tonight.”

Logan gritted his teeth, a pulse jumping on the side of his jaw.

 _Monty_ continued, still slouched against the door frame as if he was chatting to a buddy. “It was pretty smart of me don’t you think? Noticing that so many of the cable hacks reference Blaze Girl and her exploits. I just had to follow her for a few hours and she led me straight to you; the great and powerful Eyes Only. You’ve been high on Manticore’s ‘capture on sight’ list for a while. Although...” his eyes slid to the wheelchair parked at the side of the bed, “Maybe not so great and powerful after all.”

“Fuck you!” Logan spat out.

There was a blur and suddenly the soldier was looming over him, arms leaning on the bed either side of Logan. “Now, now,” he chided, “Is that any way to treat a guest in your home?”

Logan swallowed hard, very uncomfortable with the closeness of the other man. He could snap Logan’s neck in a split second if he wanted to.

“You’re no guest.” He managed to get out although his voice betrayed just how unnerved he was. “You’re just a brainwashed kid who’s got no idea who he’s working for.”

This close Logan could see some kind of painful emotion flash deep in the soldier’s eyes before he managed to hide it with forced amusement.

“Oh, I’m definitely not a kid,” he said in an almost flirtatious manner which served to unnerve Logan even more, especially when the soldier moved even closer.

Logan unconsciously wet his lips and _Monty_ tracked the movement before his eyes returned to Logan’s with a soft chuckle. He shifted forward then paused, tilting his head slightly as if listening for something before surging forward and covering Logan’s lips with his own.

Logan gasped in surprise and _Monty_ took the opportunity to push his tongue into Logan’s mouth, sweeping it against Logan’s briefly before pulling back.

“Too bad we’re going to have to cut this short.” The soldier told him before turning and running out of the door.

There was a crash as Logan’s front door burst open and Blaze Girl and Boo ran into view.

“Looking good, ladies.” The soldier told them both with a wink just as he dove for the window, smashing the glass and disappearing out into the night.

Max hurried over to the window and stared down to where the guy had presumably landed in one piece .

“Ben?” She said quietly, her forehead scrunched in confusion.

Original Cindy looked from an unharmed but obviously stunned Logan to the broken window and back again.

“What the hell kind of freaky shit is going on now?” She placed her hands on the hips of the bright yellow and red uniform and raised an eyebrow above her eye mask.

Logan could only shake his head at her. He had absolutely no idea.

***

Max and Original Cindy wasted no time in getting Logan out of his apartment now that Manticore knew exactly where they could find Eyes Only. Even Perfect Soldier pitched in despite the fact that there was no love lost between Logan and Zack; due to Zack’s planet sized crush on Max and his suspicion that there was something more going on between her and Logan. It only took a few hours before Logan and all his equipment were set up in one of the Eyes Only safe houses.

A quick phone call to New York had confirmed that Ben was still there and couldn’t have been the intruder. That meant that _Monty_ had actually been Ben’s twin brother Alec, who had been taken down and recaptured during the escape from the orphanage.

Of all twelve escapees, Ben was the only one who hadn’t taken advantage of his abilities and donned a brightly coloured costume; instead he’d decided to train as a priest and help people that way, perhaps out of guilt for leaving his brother behind. Logan had only met Ben the once and found him to be more than a little creepy, which was strange because he didn’t think that about _Monty Cora_ and he really should considering the guy had broken into Logan’s apartment to capture him.

After that night, Logan kept his head down and put the Eyes Only network on hold for two months but close surveillance on his apartment revealed nothing. No invasion by supersoldiers, no one else keeping tabs on the building, nothing but another seemingly unnoticed empty apartment in the high-rise district. The only thing that Logan could put it down to was the fact that the soldier hadn’t wanted to explain to his superiors that he’d found Eyes Only and then let him go again; so he just hadn’t reported it at all. Whatever the reason was, enough time had passed that Logan felt safe enough to get back to work; although he stayed living in the safe house just in case.

“Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is a Streaming Freedom Video bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly 60 seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped and it is the only free voice left in the city. Darrick Beaumont, your days of running guns through this city are numbered. Evidence is being gathered as I speak that will put you away for a very long time; both you _and_ your paid pet in the police department – I’m looking at you, Police Chief Stokes. You’re through with taking advantage of the citizens of Seattle and you are both on notice.”

Logan turned off the hack and removed his earphones with a sigh. It wasn’t perfect but it would have to do for now. Matt had been unable to gather any concrete evidence on Stokes so far, just rumours of expensive purchases that couldn’t be nailed down. The broadcast should be enough to prod the Sector Police into investigating Stokes - if only for appearance sake - and that may throw up something to incriminate Beaumont. In the meantime, Logan was going to keep looking for that elusive evidence that would put an end to Beaumont’s business for good.

An opportunity to find that evidence arose a couple of weeks later when a young woman who’d seen the Eyes Only broadcast got in touch through the informant net. Logan met up with her in a coffee shop under the guise of an intermediary and discovered that Carla was one of Beaumont’s mistresses. She explained through her tears that she had accidentally stumbled upon an oak box in Beaumont’s house which had been filled with ledgers and a small book of phone numbers. Beaumont had found her with the box and beaten her, threatening to kill her if she ever spoke about what she’d seen. Logan could see the fading bruises on her face underneath the mascara streaking down her face and promised her that he would get her away from Beaumont if she’d testify against him.

The shaking woman shook her head. She couldn’t go through a trial. She knew that Beaumont would get to her and kill her long before it actually got to court. Carla _was_ , however, prepared to get hold of the box for him if Eyes Only could get her far away from Seattle and the mess she’d found herself in.

If those ledgers did contain information on the gun shipments then it was more than enough to put Beaumont in jail so Logan readily agreed, assuring Carla that Eyes Only would be able to get her over the border and into Canada, far away from Beaumont’s reach. Wanting to get the whole thing over with as soon as possible, Carla arranged to meet Logan in the early hours of the following morning in a nearby park where she could give him the box in exchange for the travel documents.

“Dammit!” Logan swore as he got Max’s answering machine again.

He had spent the rest of the day frantically sorting out all the arrangements for Carla to leave the country – it hadn’t been easy and it certainly hadn’t been cheap. In between all the deals he’d had to make Logan had paged Max five times and OC three times without getting a reply from either of them. There was no answer at the phone in their flat and he was due to leave for his meeting with Carla.

Sighing to himself Logan dialled Max’s number again and left a message on her machine so she’d at least know where he was going. If she got the message in time it would be nice to have Blaze Girl at his back.

Twenty minutes later Logan wheeled himself to the fountain at the centre of Bellingham Park. It wasn’t the worst area in the city, in fact on a sunny day it was a rather pleasant place to be, but in the middle of a bitterly cold autumn night Bellingham Park was deserted and rather eerie. It was a relief when Logan finally spotted Carla walking towards him.

“I was beginning to get worried that something had happened,” he told the woman when she got closer.

Carla shook her head. “I had to wait until Darrick fell asleep.”

She pulled a wooden box out from under her coat and handed it to Logan. He took it from her gratefully and gave her a wallet filled with all the documents she’d need to leave, along with some money to help her on her journey.

“Thanks,” she told him, “But, actually, I don’t think I’ll be needing this after all.”

Logan looked up from his cursory perusal of the box’s contents to find her holding a gun which was pointed at his head. “Carla?”

“You’re a soft touch, Mr Cale,” she smirked at him. “All it takes is a few tears and you’re putty in a woman’s hands.”

“I think you underestimate your acting skills, Carla dear.” A cultured English accent sounded from Logan’s left and he looked up to see a chubby balding man approaching the two of them. “I hear it was a superb performance.”

“Beaumont!” Logan hissed as the realisation of just how badly he’d misjudged the situation sunk in.

Beaumont smiled at Logan and then looked behind him and nodded but before Logan had the chance to turn, something hit him hard from behind and everything went black.

***

Groaning as he came to, Logan gritted his teeth against the pounding in his head.  
“Nice of you to join us again, Mr Cale.”

Logan forced his eyes open and blinked, making out the form of Darrick Beaumont.

They were now in a dimly lit and damp warehouse. From the rundown look of the place, it had been abandoned for a long time. Logan had been tied to a wooden chair placed in the centre of the large space and Beaumont was sitting on another chair facing him.

“I am sorry about the poor accommodations but I can’t risk the chance of one of your _special friends_ tracking us down before we get the chance to talk. I’m sure you understand.” Beaumont told him.

Logan shook his head to try and clear the last of the fog from his brain. “It’s a lot of trouble to go to for a talk.”

Beaumont laughed. “Maybe ‘ _talk_ ’ was downplaying things slightly.” He looked off to the side and jerked his head prompting one of his thugs to walk over and stand next to Logan. “Where’s Eye Only?”

Logan shrugged as best as he could with his arms tied behind his back. “Sorry, I don’t know.”

At a nod from Beaumont the thug punched Logan in the jaw.

“Come now, you really expect me to believe that you don’t know where your employer is?” Beaumont admonished.

Logan spat some blood onto the floor. “It’s true; I’ve never met the man. We communicate through messages; he’s kind of paranoid for some reason.”

Another nod and this time the thug’s fist landed in Logan’s stomach causing all the air to leave his lungs with a gasp.

Beaumont shook his head. “I think you’re lying to me, Mr Cale,” he said as Logan coughed and spluttered, “Maybe we need more...persuasive methods to get to the truth.”

Another thug came into view carrying a covered tray. Beaumont removed the cloth with a flourish and Logan could see a range of surgical instruments laid out. Beaumont picked up a scalpel and stood, walking over to Logan. Thug #1 grabbed hold of Logan’s head with both hands, forcing it still as Beaumont gently ran the scalpel up and down Logan’s cheek.

“What’s Eyes Only’s name?” He asked.

Logan swallowed hard. “I don’t know.”

Beaumont’s hand moved quickly and then Logan felt pain bloom on the side of his face.

“Where is Eyes Only’s base of operations?”

“I don’t know.”

Another movement of Beaumont’s hand and the pain spread along Logan’s jaw line. He could feel blood dripping down his face and neck.

“I could do this all night. If you stay stubborn enough we’ll be able to peel the skin away from your face completely.” Beaumont gave a shark-like smile. “Who else works for Eyes Only?”

“I don’t know.” Logan closed his eyes in preparation for the next cut but it didn’t come. Instead he heard a gasp and reopened his eyes to see Beaumont’s wrist in the grip of a Manticore soldier.

For a split second, everyone in the warehouse froze as they tried to figure out where the man had come from, then thug #1 swung one of his fists at the soldier whilst thug #2 ran at him from behind.

Quick as a flash the soldier ducked the fist and kicked his leg out behind him catching thug #2 in the stomach and sending him flying an unbelievable distance back across the room. The first thug had pulled a gun from underneath his jacket but the soldier used telekinesis to pull the gun out of the thug’s grasp and into his own, shooting the thug in the knee so that he dropped to the floor. The soldier then kicked him in the head and knocked him out.

With a yell Carla appeared out of the shadows at the back of the room, firing her gun at the soldier who held his hand in front of him with the palm facing out. Instantly the bullets stopped in midair before clattering to the stone floor. Then the soldier made a sweeping motion with the same hand and Carla sailed backwards into the wall, collapsing into an unconscious heap on the ground.

Only when all the others were taken out did the soldier turn his attention back to Beaumont, whose wrist he was still holding and who was staring at him in horrified fascination.

“We seem to have a little problem here.” The soldier told Beaumont. “You see, this guy is _my_ job and my bosses aren’t going to be happy that someone else has got to play with him before they do.”

A shiver ran down Logan’s back at the thought of Manticore _playing_ with him but he kept silent, waiting to see how all of this would play out.

“I’m sure we can come to some sort of arrangement.” Beaumont was telling the soldier – Alec. Logan would have recognised his voice even if the telekinesis hadn’t given it away. “I could definitely use a man of your...skills working for me. Why don’t you forget about your bosses and join me instead? I’ll even let you play with Cale yourself.”

Beaumont waved the scalpel as enticingly as he could in the iron grip the soldier still had on his wrist and Alec tilted his head to one side in a considering manner for a moment.

“No deal,” he said and used his grip to fling Beaumont away from him, knocking him out cold as he hit the floor.

Logan held his breath wondering what was going to happen to _him_ but Alec didn’t even acknowledge him as he suddenly blurred around the room in that super speed manner that Logan had seen Max and the others use. When he stopped Logan could see that he’d gathered all the unconscious people together and secured them tightly with rope. That was when he finally turned to Logan.

“Hey, handsome. Miss me?” He smirked as he sauntered slowly over to Logan. “You really are a trouble magnet aren’t you? Or maybe you’re just naive; anyone could’ve seen that trap a mile off.”

Logan bristled. He _should’ve_ spotted the trap but he’d been so intent on bringing Beaumont down that he’d missed every sign. “It must have saved you some work. Did you just sit back and wait until someone else caught me?” He asked snidely.

Alec laughed. “If I wanted to catch you, I would’ve done it weeks ago. The security on that house of yours in Burton Heights is nowhere near as good as the one at your old apartment.”

Logan started at the fact that the other man knew exactly where he’d been hiding out. “Then why..?” He trailed off with a hiss of pain as Alec gripped his chin and lifted Logan’s head to inspect the incisions that Beaumont had made.

“They’re not too bad,” he told Logan, “They’ve already stopped bleeding. You may get a couple of scars but I think they’ll just make you look roguish.”

Alec’s eyes twinkled in amusement as Logan stared at him in confusion. What the hell was it with this guy? First he tried to kidnap Logan for Manticore and now he was acting as if they were old friends! “So...you don’t want to capture me anymore?”

Alec chuckled. “Well, I’m sure we can arrange something if that’s a kink of yours but right now I kind of like Beaumont’s idea of playing with you for a while.”

Logan’s eyes immediately widened in fear and shot to the tray that had been left abandoned on the floor.

“Don’t worry blood play’s not really a turn-on of mine.” Alec assured Logan as he straddled his lap and sat down. “Hmm...I hope _everything_ isn’t dead down here.”

He rocked his hips forward into Logan’s to emphasise what he meant and Logan was mortified to feel his cock give a twitch in response.

The soldier looked positively gleeful. “Apparently not.”

“Look,” Logan started, “I don’t know what type of game you’re playing here but I’m not interested.”

Rolling his hips again, Alec leaned forward and breathed into Logan’s ear, “I think part of you is _very_ interested.”

Logan manfully stifled a groan at the duel sensation of that hypnotic rocking motion and his earlobe being sucked into Alec’s mouth. It really had been too long since he’d been intimate with another person if he was getting aroused by this sociopath.

“Just a natural reaction,” he gasped, “Doesn’t mean that I want to...oh, christ...”

Logan broke off into a moan as Alec found that one sensitive spot behind Logan’s ear and started to nibble.

“Not quite,” Alec laughed lowly against Logan’s skin, “But I bet I can make you see God.”

He then gave a wiggle in Logan’s lap that effectively stopped Logan’s retort in its tracks and instead had him scrabbling for self control. Every time Logan regained some sort of coherency the soldier would move in some new way and it would melt away into nothing but the feeling of the soldier above him and the delicious friction he was causing. By the time Alec pulled him in for a kiss Logan couldn’t help but respond eagerly, licking into his mouth to taste every part of it.

The soldier made a desperate noise at that and bucked against Logan causing him to pull out of the kiss with a sharp gasp. “ _Alec..._ "

The instant the word passed Logan’s lips both men froze. Despite the fact that Logan had been thinking of the soldier as ‘Alec’ this entire time, he hadn’t meant to let the other man know that Logan knew his real identity. He had no idea how he would react. Alec leant back and studied Logan intently while Logan held himself still, which wasn’t that difficult considering he was still tied to the damn chair.

“Let me guess. The distinctly non-blaze girl recognised me?” He asked Logan after a long moment.

Logan cleared his throat. “Actually she thought you were Ben.”

Alec gave a bitter laugh. “Of course she did. How _is_ that brother of mine?”

Logan was entranceded by the re-emergence of the same flash of pain he’d witnessed deep in the soldier’s green eyes the last time they’d met and answered without thinking. “He’s pretty creepy actually.”

Alec’s eyes widened in surprise for a second before the man gave a loud and genuine laugh while Logan inwardly cringed at his tactlessness.

“I knew there must be a reason why I liked you, Logan Cale...beyond the obvious anyway,” Alec said as he reached up and pulled the mask off his head, “And I guess I won’t be needing _this_ anymore.”

It was almost like looking at a replica of Ben. _Almost_. But where Ben’s eyes had always had a disturbing, dead quality to them, Alec’s sparkled with life and mischief. It was such a small difference that changed everything about him and Logan could feel himself responding to it. Not just physically – although that part was definitely making itself known again – but he had an urge to snark at the guy, knowing instinctively that he would be fun to banter with.

“Aww, you like me? I’m touched.” Logan smirked, giving in to that urge even as his mind was telling him that he should actually be focused on getting out of there intact.

Alec gave a low dirty laugh. “Well if you wanted to be touched all you needed to do was ask.”

Before Logan could even register Alec’s hand moving, his flies were open and Alec was gripping his hard length. Logan’s head fell back at the feeling of the first hand other than his own to touch him there in over two years and Alec immediately bent his head and started to suck and bite at his exposed Adam’s apple, making Logan groan out loud.

Alec made a pleased sound against Logan’s throat at his groan. “I like having you at my mercy,” he said, as if Logan could ever be anything but at his mercy.

His hand began to move in firm strokes up and down Logan’s cock, adding a twist at the top that had Logan’s hips trying valiantly to buck upwards.

“Please...” Logan pleaded. For what he didn’t know but apparently Alec did, as he just as quickly opened his own trousers and lined his cock up alongside Logan’s, sliding his hand over them both at the same time.

The added sensation sent sparks shooting through Logan and his hands clenched and unclenched, straining against the ropes holding him to the chair. Alec’s free hand buried itself in Logan’s hair, yanking his head forward and Logan had a split second to see how dark the other man’s eyes had become before he was pulled into a messy kiss.

“Logan!” Alec gasped into his mouth as he suddenly stiffened.

Logan felt warmth spilling over his cock and it only took a few more strokes before he was coming too with a choked groan.

Alec collapsed forward, his head buried in Logan’s neck as both men struggled to catch their breath.

Eventually the world around them seeped back into Logan’s consciousness. He shivered from the cold air against his heated skin and over Alec’s shoulder he could make out the shapes of the still unconscious bad guys.

“Fuck!” He cursed as he realised how out of control he’d been and with a guy who’d been ordered to capture and maybe kill him.

Alec straightened up with a tired chuckle. “Maybe next time.” He winked at Logan and then deliberately raised his hand, slowly licking their combined essence from his fingers without his eyes ever leaving Logan’s.

Logan swallowed hard at the sight. Oh yeah, this guy was definitely going to kill him one way or another.

***

“What the hell were you thinking?”

Logan blinked at the angry superhero in his living room, wondering how on earth she knew what he and Alec had done.

“You could have been killed. You know better than to go to a meeting without me; especially one that hinky.” Max yelled and Logan realised, with not a little relief, that she was actually talking about Beaumont.

He continued wheeling himself into the room. After Alec had dropped him off at the house in a car ‘commandeered’ from Beaumont and he’d phoned Matt to let him know about the bad guys tied up at the warehouse, Logan had taken a very cold shower; emerging to find a mad Blaze Girl waiting for him.

“I tried to call you and you weren’t answering your pages. It was time sensitive Max, I couldn’t wait for you,” Logan told her matter of factly.

“You _always_ wait for me!” Her hands were on her hips, never a good sign. “You don’t go into a situation like that without back-up! Anything could happen to you!”

Logan had had an extremely bad night; he was tired, hurt, confused and very cranky and Max’s superior attitude wasn’t helping his mood.

“I have been doing this for a while you know,” he shot back, “I don’t need you babysitting me at every turn.”

“Actually, it looks like you do from where I’m standing.” Max indicated the gauze he’d just taped onto the cuts on one side of his face and the nasty bruise on the other.

“It’s nothing,” Logan said, turning to head into the kitchen for his whiskey.

He poured himself a generous measure without offering Max any, she hated the stuff anyway. He closed his eyes at the burn it made going down his throat and felt his anger melt away with it.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Max demanded from behind him.

Logan sighed and raked a hand through his still damp hair. “I went. It was a trap . I got out.” He summed up with a tired shrug.

“How did you get out?” Max’s voice had calmed in response to Logan’s exhausted attitude.

He turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow. “Does it matter? I’m safe and Beaumont is probably in Matt’s custody by now.”

Max leaned against one of the kitchen counters, her eyes narrowed because she knew he was holding something back but she didn’t comment on it. “So you found the evidence?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, “There was evidence there but I don’t know if it was real or just planted for my benefit. Hopefully Matt can find something else at the warehouse he can use.”

She nodded. “I’ll swing by the station on my way home and see what happened. You should get some sleep before you pass out. I’ll tell you what I’ve found tomorrow.”

Logan murmured his thanks and stayed where he was long after Max had flown away. He looked around at the dingy little house and wondered if he should move back to his old apartment. Alec had assured him that he hadn’t reported his discovery of Eyes Only to his superiors; his failure to capture Logan would’ve been a definite black mark on Alec’s record. The grim expression on his face as he said that prompted Logan to try and persuade Alec to leave Manticore but Alec had pulled up in front of the house at that point and proceeded to kiss Logan until he forgot what they’d been talking about.

Logan knew that he shouldn’t actually trust anything Alec told him. He was, after all, a loyal soldier for the enemy but he had saved Logan’s life tonight. Plus there was the strange attraction that burned between them but that wasn’t exactly an indication that Alec was trustworthy. Logan’s mind bounced back and forth desperately trying to figure it all out but, in the end, it just gave him a headache and two possible scenarios.

Either Alec was telling the truth and Logan was safe to move back into his apartment or it was all some twisted Manticore game. If it _was_ a game, then Alec knew where Logan was anyway and could grab him anytime so Logan figured he may as well be comfortable up until then.

Decision made he finished the rest of his drink and headed to bed, although he was fairly sure that sleep would be a long time coming.

The fight with Max over Logan moving back to his apartment lasted for over two hours the next day and only stopped when Logan detailed the upgrades that he’d been working on for the security system. He didn’t believe that they would keep Alec out if he really wanted to break in again - and he refused to dwell on the fact that part of him didn’t really want to keep Alec out – but it placated Max enough for her to stop yelling. She still remained frosty towards him during the move though and Logan thanked God that Original Cindy had volunteered to help too as she managed to fill the silence with stories of Jam Pony and Normal’s tyrannical antics that week.

It didn’t escape Logan’s notice that Max’s normal patrol route changed over the next couple of weeks making sure that she passed by Logan’s apartment a few times every night. So, even though she remained pissed at him when they talked, Logan knew she still cared and that things would get back to normal soon enough.

Matt Sung had been unable to find any evidence to link Beaumont to the gun-running at the warehouse but he was able to hold the two thugs and Carla for having unregistered weapons. When he’d taken those three to the station to book them, Police Chief Stokes had spotted them, jumped to the wrong conclusion about why they were there and panicked – especially when Blaze Girl suddenly appeared too. Much to Matt's bemusement he'd immediately declared that he’d cut a deal testifying to Beaumont bribing police officials in return for immunity from prosecution and enforced early retirement. It seemed that the Eyes Only hack had made Stokes _very_ jumpy.

Now that it looked as though Beaumont would be going to jail, Logan had time to turn his attention to the jet boots he’d been tinkering with. They would be useful for Original Cindy when she went on patrols with Max; it couldn’t be easy trying to keep up with your flying partner and Logan wanted to thank her for all her help lately.

It was during the course of making those that Logan had the idea for a gadget of his own; if he could add thrusters and stabilisers to a pair of boots to make someone fly then he should be able to use the same basic principles to make mechanical legs which would enable someone to walk. The very idea of being able to use his legs again had Logan throwing himself into the project and by the time he raised his head for more than a quick meal and a nap, three months had passed and he had a working prototype to try out.

Logan tightened the exo-skeleton around his left thigh and double checked that all the other fastenings were holding. Taking a deep breath he tried to get his leg to lift on its own and then grinned widely when it did. Placing both feet on the floor he braced his weight against the arms of the wheelchair and pushed himself to standing. Logan closed his eyes and stood still for a few seconds, waiting for the exo-skeleton to give and send him crashing back down into the chair again. When nothing happened he cracked his eyes open and looked down. He was _standing_. He was standing _on his own_.

With a hysterical giggle he bent his knees a few times and then took a careful step forward. The machinery felt heavy and he had to adjust to the extra weight but soon he was stomping around the apartment laughing loudly, filled with a sense of glee at the feeling of simply walking again.

He turned to head back to his office/workshop but twisted a bit too quickly. One of the joints squealed and the entire right leg of the exo seized up.

“Crap!” he swore and tried to see which joint had been affected. It was too far behind his back though so he had to half hop, half drag himself back to the chair.

Once there he undid the fastenings, with a sinking stomach, and flopped back into his wheelchair, leaving the exo standing so he could examine it. It was with a huge wave of relief that he discovered he’d simply tightened the bolt too much on that particular joint though and that it was an easy fix to get the leg moving again.

 _He’d actually done it._

Logan knew that he wouldn’t be able to use the exo all the time, that would cause too much wear and tear, but for certain things, those times when he felt useless sitting in his chair, he could walk again. He closed his eyes as he was overwhelmed with a rush of emotions.

 _He could walk again._

***

After the successful test on the exo-skeleton, Logan slept for an entire day. When he finally woke, his mind was full of scenarios with which to break the news to Max and OC – plus he still needed to give Cindy her new jet boots. Logan was humming under his breath as he pushed himself out of his bedroom and then stopped short.

“Ahhh!” he yelled and then looked around wildly for anything in reach that he could use as a weapon.

The seven foot dogman that was standing in Logan’s kitchen slurping cereal and milk out of a bowl with his tongue, jumped at the noise. He spun around to look at Logan then dropped the bowl and gave a startled yell of his own at the sight of a man in a wheelchair brandishing a standard lamp at him.

“Who are you?” Logan demanded loudly.

“Joshua!” The dogman shouted back and Logan had to blink because he hadn’t actually expected the guy to be able to talk.

“Joshua? You’re Joshua?” Logan asked and the dogman nodded, a lot. “What are you doing in my apartment?”

Joshua looked around for a moment as if startled that he was in someone else’s apartment and then turned back to Logan with wide eyes. “Joshua look after Logan.”

“Look after me? What...how did..?” Logan trailed off helplessly, completely lost as to what was going on.

Joshua’s face lit up, however, at the discovery that the man yelling at him _was_ Logan. “Alec said Logan trouble magnet. Joshua keep Logan safe.”

“Alec...” Logan groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand, keeping hold of the lamp with the other but letting it drop slightly. “I need a coffee; it’s far too early to deal with this.”

“Coffee!” Yelled Joshua suddenly and he ran back into the kitchen and started opening cupboards at random.

“No, Joshua. I didn’t mean...” Logan stopped as Joshua ran back into the room with a coffee tin in his hands. He passed the tin to Logan and then slapped him on the shoulder with a grin.

Trying not to wince from the hard slap Logan gave Joshua a thin smile in thanks before wheeling himself into the kitchen to set up the jerry-rigged coffee machine.

Joshua trailed after him and, as soon as the coffee was percolating nicely, Logan looked at him properly. Once you got past the whole ‘enormous man who looked like a dog’ thing, Joshua actually had a friendly face with wide innocent looking eyes. Of course, he also had sharp fangs but seeing as he hadn’t tried to bite Logan yet he probably didn’t intend to.

“So Alec brought you here?” Logan asked.

Joshua nodded enthusiastically and then held his finger to his lips in a shushing gesture. “Secret. Not supposed to tell anyone.”

Logan nodded, that made sense. If Alec hadn’t told anyone about Logan then he wouldn’t want Joshua telling anyone either. “You’re from Manticore?”

Instantly Joshua’s demeanour changed, his face pulling into a snarl. “Manticore kill Sandman. Hurt Joshua and others who look different. Not with Manticore. With Logan now.”

Logan had backed up a little when Joshua started growling but then what he was saying filtered through. “Manticore hurt you?”

Joshua’s shoulders slumped and nodded. “Lock us up. In basement. Run tests. Forget about us until we shout for food then hurt us. Too much noise.”

He looked so mournful and yet spoke in such a matter of fact tone of voice that Logan felt a powerful rush of pity for the guy. He prodded Joshua until he sat on one of the kitchen stools and patted his knee gently.

“Okay, you can stay here for a while until we can get you set up on your own,” Logan told him and was rewarded with a huge smile, “But first things first...coffee.”

Logan poured himself a cup, adding a little milk and sugar, then poured one for Joshua. He took a sip and sighed before opening his eyes and watching, bemused, as Joshua sniffed at the sugar dispenser and then poured half of the contents into his cup.

“Logan?”

Logan and Joshua stared at each other wide eyed as Max’s voice filtered through to the kitchen, both knowing that there wasn’t time for Joshua to hide.

“I need you to look up a name for me and you know that I’m going to want a cup of that coffee I can smell...” Max froze as she caught sight of the giant dogman civilly drinking a morning coffee with Logan in his kitchen.

Joshua sniffed the air and then bellowed, “Little fella!” before bounding across the room and sweeping Max off her feet and into a hug.

“Little..? _Joshua?_ ” Max gasped in the crushing embrace.

Joshua dropped her and stood grinning down at her, bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement. Logan was sure that if Joshua had a tail it would be wagging.

“Joshua? What are you doing here?” Max was smiling but obviously confused.

“Joshua stay with Logan for a while.” Joshua beamed while Max turned and raised a questioning eyebrow at Logan who was struggling to find an explanation.

“I was following up an Eyes Only lead. Strange noises in an abandoned house, kids getting scared that sort of thing,” he told her lamely, “and I found Joshua hiding there. He’d obviously escaped from Manticore so I brought him here. Last night.”

Logan forced his face into what he hoped was a believable expression and glanced at Joshua to see him doing the same thing. Logan prayed that his was more convincing.

“Strange noises?” Max obviously _hadn’t_ been convinced. “Is Eyes Only ghostbusting now?”

Logan laughed, inwardly cringing at the false tone of it, and Joshua joined in as if Max had said the funniest thing he’d ever heard.

“So you needed me to look up a name?” Logan said, quickly changing the subject and wheeling himself towards his office to boot up the computer.

“Theo Mitchem,” Max said, giving him a glare that clearly said he wasn't off the hook yet.

Logan ducked his head and busied himself with the name search. He could hear Max start to interrogate Joshua who was still in the kitchen and, from the sounds of things, was eating whatever he could find in the cupboards.

“How did you manage to escape, Joshua? Could you find your way back there?” Max and the others had been trying to trace the whereabouts of Manticore for years.

“Had help from...guard,” Joshua said carefully through a mouthful of food, “hid in trunk of car.”

He must’ve looked apologetic because Max then said, “That’s okay. I’m glad you got away, Joshua. I’ve missed you, big fella.”

Logan smiled to himself at that. Max had obviously been close to Joshua to allow him to swing her around like he had - she really wasn’t that big on hugs - so it was good for her to have him back in her life and definitely good for Joshua to be free.

Logan continued to work for ten or fifteen minutes, half listening to Max and Joshua catching up, before he found something.

“Got him,” he called and waited for the other two to join him before continuing, “Theodore Mitchem is a rising star in the BOFAL Corporation. He’s in charge of their research and development department having been promoted four times in the last two years. It looks as though he’s been pushing a new form of anti-virus software pretty aggressively.”

Max nodded thoughtfully, “I got a tip that he’s using some kind of computer program to siphon off money from the banks. That software could probably do it.”

Logan frowned, it was the first he’d heard of it and this type of crime was more in Eyes Only territory than Blaze Girl’s. “Who did you get the tip from?”

Ducking her head, Max mumbled an answer so quietly that Logan had to ask her to repeat it.

“Powerhouse and Pirate.”

“Who..?” Logan started to ask but then he placed the names and started to smirk. “Two of those kids that pretended to be criminals so that you’d ‘catch them’. I remember. I didn’t realise you kept in touch with them.”

“I didn’t.” Max sighed obviously embarrassed. “They stood on a roof last night holding a banner with my name on it to get my attention. Apparently they’re hackers and have decided to ‘ _use their powers for good._ ’”

Logan laughed. “That probably _will_ get you to talk to them more than when they were bad guys. So...was your name in a heart?”

“Shut up!” Max snapped, confirming Logan’s suspicions.

Logan suppressed the urge to tease Max some more, he was already in enough trouble with her. “Do you need any help from Eyes Only on this?”

Max shook her head. “Nah, I figured I’d go the busting heads route first; get some more specifics. Besides you obviously have enough going on.”

Logan winced at the obvious dig at his secret keeping.

“Joshua help Max,” Joshua piped up, “Bust some heads.”

“Oh, Joshua...” Max patted his arm. “You should get settled in first. Get used to being out in the world a bit more.”

Joshua looked disappointed but nodded his head dutifully.

“And then there’s plenty you can help _me_ with,” Logan added, trying to cheer him up again.

It seemed to work and Joshua happily left the room in search of more food. Max checked her watch and decided to head out, promising Joshua that she’d come back and see him soon and promising Logan that they were going to have a little chat at some point in the near future.

***

“Holy shit!” OC screamed at the top of her voice as she floated several feet above the ground. “Logan, if Original Cindy gets out of this she’s going to put a real smack down on your ass.”

“Stop flapping your arms about, that’s not helping,” laughed Logan, “just use the controls like I showed you.”

Logan had finally gotten around to giving OC her gift and they, along with Max and Joshua, had driven to a piece of old wasteland to try them out. The jet boots worked perfectly but they’d run into a problem with the pilot. It seemed that Original Cindy was more than a little bit scared of heights. Every time she got higher than a few feet, she would start panicking and then all memory of how to pilot the boots would fly out of her head and the flailing would start as if pretending that she had wings would help her.

Max was leaning on Joshua with tears of mirth shining in her eyes. Joshua was barking in amusement and Logan was trying to hold it together enough to help OC and give her instructions, but was failing miserably.

At the point where OC managed to start somersaulting in midair and was unable to stop, Max finally flew up to help her. She turned off the boots manually from the outside and flew her back down to earth.

OC immediately marched over to the still chuckling Logan and smacked him hard upside the head before leaning down to give him a hug. “Thanks for the thought and effort, Boo. But Original Cindy is going to be keeping her feet firmly on the ground from now on.”

Logan returned the hug with a smile. “I’m sure one of the others will find a use for them. I’ll just have to make you another gadget instead.”

“Just as long as it doesn’t fly, a’igt?” OC said as she pulled away.

Logan nodded his agreement and then cleared his throat embarrassedly. “I did make something else though. Something for me.”

“Tell me you haven’t added power jets to that chair?” Max said with a smile.

Shaking his head, Logan reached down and put the brakes on the wheelchair before standing up.  
There was shocked silence for a few minutes before OC grabbed him in another hug. “Boy, what did you do?”

As soon as OC let go, Max flung her arms around him and, obviously not wanting to be left out, Joshua hugged the both of them.

Laughing, Logan waited until they let go before raising his trouser leg enough for everyone to see the bottom of the exo-skeleton. “I can’t wear it all the time but it’s enough.”

“Oh wow!” Max looked really pleased for him. “You know, I’d forgotten how tall you were.”

“Now _this_ calls for a celebration!” Original Cindy announced and the four of them piled back to Logan’s place to make a dent in his wine collection.

***

Joshua had already made himself at home in the weeks since he’d arrived. Discovering that he liked to read, Max had made it her duty to bring him a new book every day and he already had the beginnings of an impressive collection piled in the corners of Logan’s spare room. Original Cindy had worked her usual magic and rustled him up some new clothes from god knows where and also some fairy lights which Joshua really seemed to like and had strung up above his bed like stars.

He was becoming a real help in Logan’s workshop too; carrying the heavier items, which Logan usually struggled to move, with ease. Then, one day, Logan had left the workshop where he’d been painting a new Kevlar uniform for Glacier Guy and returned to find that not only had Joshua taken over the job but had added some snowflakes and swirls to the uniform that made it look amazing.

So Joshua was now officially in charge of the painting jobs and Logan had also quickly knocked up an easel for Joshua’s personal use.

Logan didn’t miss how often Joshua stared wistfully out of the window though. He knew that Joshua longed to be outside with all the other people but Max had put her foot down, telling him that he had to stay inside for his own safety.

Logan wasn’t so sure that she was right about that. It definitely made sense for Joshua to stay inside during the day - he only had to think back to his own initial reaction upon meeting the guy to confirm that - but at night when the superheroes were out, surely Joshua could join them? He had a crazy amount of strength, he was fast and he had a desire to help; all he really needed was the right costume to hide his features. And maybe not even that, Logan had recently learned of a superhero that had appeared near the site of a Japanese meltdown who looked like a cat, complete with fur, ears and tail; and people seemed to love _her_.

Watching Joshua as he stared down at the streets again, Logan decided that enough was enough. What was the point in him escaping Manticore if he just became trapped somewhere else? So that night, after he’d gone to bed, Logan propped himself up against the headboard and sketched out a few design ideas for Joshua’s costume; eventually falling asleep with the pencil still in his hand.

He woke up several hours later with a groan at the feeling of his cock enveloped in wonderful, wet sucking warmth. It took him a few long moments to gather enough brain cells to work out why and then he raised himself on his elbows to look down his body.

“Alec...”

Alec pulled off him with an obscene pop and grinned at Logan, his lips swollen and slick with spit. “Morning, Sunshine.” He then licked a stripe up the underside of Logan’s cock that caused Logan to drop back down against the pillows again with a curse.

Alec was still chuckling as he took his cock back into his mouth and Logan had to bite his lip to keep from shouting out at how good that felt. Soon he was writhing on the bed, his fists clenching the sheets as Alec proceeded to suck and lick and nibble; never keeping to a pattern and always backing off when Logan got too close to the edge.

Logan didn’t know how long he’d been kept there, alternatively pleading with then cursing at Alec, it felt like too long and yet not long enough. Finally Alec took him deep into his throat and it was all over as Logan spilled into him with a loud cry of pleasure.

Once Logan had caught is breath he growled, “Get up here!” and Alec lifted himself from where he had been resting on Logan’s thigh and crawled up over Logan like a cat.

As soon as he got close enough Logan grabbed Alec’s head with one hand and pulled him down into a forceful kiss, chasing the taste of himself in Alec’s mouth, while his other hand scrabbled eagerly to open Alec’s trousers. Logan groaned into Alec’s mouth at the feel of just how hard the other man was and tightened his grip around Alec’s cock, moving his hand in strong, sure motions that had Alec whining and bucking into Logan’s hand. Logan’s other hand left its hold on Alec’s hair and moved down between Alec’s legs until it reached the spot just behind his balls. Then Logan pressed hard with his finger and Alec came with a startled yell before collapsing onto Logan.

Alec rolled off and to the side, keeping his head resting on Logan’s chest, and both men stayed where they were for a long while, too exhausted to move other than to pull the sheet over themselves. They must’ve drifted into a light doze because Logan woke with a start at the sound of Joshua moving around the apartment. He flushed at the realisation that Joshua must’ve heard them earlier; neither he nor Alec had been quiet.

“I’m glad you let him stay,” Alec murmured quietly, his voice rough from sleep and other activities that had Logan blushing even more in remembrance.

Logan hummed before asking, “Why did you bring him here?”

Alec shrugged. “He was getting into too much trouble, breaking out and stealing food for himself and the other Nomalies. Management were going to do something about him sooner or later. Luckily I knew a bleeding heart out here that would help him.”

Logan snorted at that then grew thoughtful again as he ran his fingers through Alec’s hair. “Who’s going to help you?”

Alec stiffened at that then pulled away, sitting up and stretching over-dramatically. He smirked at Logan. “I don’t need any help, I’m doing just fine.” Then he threw in a leer for good measure.

Logan instantly missed the warmth of the other man along his side but he pushed the feeling away and forced himself to sit up. “You know that Manticore is evil. Why do you stay there?”

“Maybe I just like being a bad boy!” Alec threw back at him before climbing out of bed and straightening his clothes. “I’m going to grab some breakfast. Don’t mind do you?” He left the room without waiting for an answer.

Logan huffed in annoyance and pulled on the sweatpants and t-shirt that Alec had somehow removed without waking him up.

He wheeled himself out into the kitchen and found Alec and Joshua shovelling cereal into their mouths and joking around. Without a word, Logan manoeuvred around the pair of them gathering the ingredients to make some waffles. It wasn’t long before the other men were peering over his shoulder and sniffing appreciatively while Logan hid his smile.

“You’re not going to eat all of that by yourself, right?” Alec asked.

Logan shrugged non-committally while Joshua added, “Joshua and Alec can help Logan eat waffles.”

“I thought you were happy with the cereal,” Logan commented.

“That was before we knew there were waffles on offer,” Alec pointed out, “I’m sure I can squeeze a couple in, I have worked up an appetite after all.”

Joshua nodded. “Alec and Logan getting busy.”

Logan spluttered and blushed to the roots of his hair. “Where on earth did you learn that phrase?”

“Alec,” Joshua told him.

Alec flashed Logan a shit-eating grin and then, while Logan was still distracted by Joshua’s comment, stole both waffles from the iron, handing one to Joshua.

Logan opened his mouth to protest then gave up and resignedly told them that there was syrup in the cupboard.

Alec ended up staying for most of the day, mainly hanging out with Joshua. They were obviously close and, unlike Max, Alec didn’t seem to baby Joshua; instead teasing him with nicknames and accepting jokes at his expense in return. Logan left them alone for the most part, giving them a chance to catch-up but occasionally Alec would wander into his office and forcefully straddle Logan for a quick make out session, much to Joshua’s amusement.

It all felt so domestic and Logan wished that he could talk some sense into Alec and get him to leave Manticore. But when he tried to bring it up again as Alec was leaving he was shut up with a quiet ‘Don’t” from the other man.

Logan nodded regretfully and moved aside to let him pass.

Before Alec walked out the door he leaned into Logan, gave him a quick goodbye kiss and whispered, “I like the design for Josh’s costume, he’ll be good at that superhero stuff.”

Once he had left Logan went to his room to collect the sketches that Alec had reminded him about and stayed in there for a while, thinking about the puzzle of Alec with a frown on his face.

A noise from the doorway made him look up to see Joshua studying him thoughtfully. “Alec only knows Manticore. Only knows orders. Alec needs orders. Alec needs to belong somewhere.”

Logan raised his eyebrows, that hadn’t occurred to him. “I could order him around.” He muttered.

Joshua chuckled and Logan gave him a half hearted smile before beckoning him into the room to show him the sketches.

Max, predictably, went mad when she saw The Hound in his brand new superhero costume.

It was made in different shades of brown; a long jacket with a hood and a reinforced body suit underneath. It had fingerless gloves to make room for Joshua’s claws and steel toe cap boots and was finished off with a mask that covered Joshua’s whole head; it even had mesh hiding his eyes. Joshua had painted a silhouette of a dog on the front of the body suit and covered the lining of the coat with little paw prints.

Far less predictable was the fact that Zack took Joshua’s side. As far as he was concerned the more heavy hitters on their team the better; and Joshua was definitely a heavy hitter. So when Blaze Girl refused to take The Hound on patrols with her and Boo, Perfect Soldier showed up at Logan’s apartment in his full camouflaged uniform and face paint to take The Hound out and show him the ropes.

Pretty soon The Hound began to get a reputation for the strength he used against the villains and the gentleness with which he treated the victims. Logan even spotted a couple of girls wearing homemade t-shirts with a copy of the dog silhouette on them and he ruthlessly teased Joshua about his new groupies.

Eventually, Max relented. Joshua had proven that he could look after himself out there and had even stepped in once to help Blaze Girl when she’d found herself outnumbered. She was still mad at Logan but he was getting used to that these days. He was just keeping too many secrets from her and they both knew it; but, as much as he regretted that it was coming between them, he just couldn’t tell Max about Alec.

***

Logan sat at his computer, tracking down some information based on a tip from the informant net and trying hard not to wonder what Alec was doing and why he hadn’t appeared in over five months. It wasn’t as though he and Alec were...anything really, but he’d expected Alec to visit Joshua at least.

Not that he was thinking about it.

He heard Joshua returning from his nightly patrol and looked up expectantly, ready to hear all about The Hound’s latest exploits, when the phone rang.

Logan answered it as Joshua walked into the office but all he could hear was loud static. He was about to hang up again when he managed to make out a voice.

“... _out! Leave_...”

“Alec?” Logan could recognise his voice even through the distortion.

“... _coming for you_... _to both go_... _Get out now!_ ” The line went dead.

Logan put the phone down and looked at Joshua. “Alec says we need to leave.”

Joshua nodded and grabbed the back of Logan’s chair when Logan yelled to wait. Quickly, he turned back to the computer and entered a few keystrokes that would release a virus to totally wipe his hard drive, and then he grabbed his back up drive from under the desk and shoved it into a backpack. When he reached for his exo-skeleton, with the intention of putting it on, Joshua took it out of his hands with a shake of his head.

“No time!” Joshua said as he tucked the exo under one arm and used the other to pick Logan out of the chair and swung him over his shoulder.

Logan could only clench his hands in the back of Joshua’s coat and hang on for dear life as Joshua ran up the building stairs and out onto the roof. He managed to keep himself from screaming when Joshua jumped a large gap to land on the next rooftop but it was a near thing. He didn’t quite manage it for the second or third jumps.

When they got a safe enough distance away Joshua crouched down behind a rooftop maintenance hut and lowered Logan to the ground. They both peered around the side of the hut back towards Logan’s apartment and could see the flashes from multiple guns as whoever was in there fired randomly, destroying everything in sight.

“That was close ,” Logan breathed, “I guess Manticore tracked us down.”

Joshua grunted in agreement then said, “Uh oh!” as he pointed to the sky. “Max!”

Logan looked up and could just make out the shape of something flying towards Logan’s apartment. “Shit!” He scrambled in the backpack to pull out his comms. “Max, we’re not in the apartment. Repeat, we’re not in there.”

But it was too little too late as he watched the flying shape crash through the window to confront whoever was in the apartment.

“Must help Max.” Joshua pulled his mask out of his pocket and pulled it over his head. “Logan stay here.” With that Joshua ran back the way they’d come.

Logan cursed and peered around the hut again, trying to make out what was going on.

“Logan report! What’s happening?”

He had never been so happy to hear Zack’s voice as the comms burst into life.

“Manticore attacked my apartment. The Hound and I got out but not in time to let Blaze Girl know we were safe and she flew in there,” Logan told him, “The Hound has gone back to help her.”

“Understood,” Zack replied in a perfectly calm voice although Logan knew he was probably running flat out to their position. “ETA five minutes. Get Boo to join us and keep your head down. Perfect Soldier out.”

Logan tapped on the earpiece to pull up Original Cindy’s comms and quickly apprised her of the situation. When she assured him that she was on her way, Logan looked towards the apartment again in time to see a black shape smash through another window and plummet towards the ground.

He felt useless just sitting there watching. Manticore had come after _him_ and now his friends could get hurt while he sat on his ass doing nothing. Logan’s eyes drifted to the exo-skeleton laying abandoned on the ground where Joshua had dropped it. If he made a few adjustments to the weight ratio and convinced the exo that he was heavier than he was then, theoretically, it would automatically adapt to compensate for the extra weight. That way the exo would allow him to jump higher and run further by creating an extra boost.

Logan thought for a moment, it was all well and good being able to get back to the apartment but what would he do when he got there? He had his gun with him but didn’t know if he was confident enough to use it.

A loud bang sounded from the building and Logan looked to see another person fall from one of the windows from the force of the small explosion. That made up Logan’s mind; his friends were in danger and he had to do _something_ to help them.

Adjustments made and exo on Logan eyed the first gap between the buildings that he needed to cross. He took a deep breath and backed up as far as he could. He bounced on his toes to gear himself up but, with the extra boost of the exo, that sent him at least half a foot into the air and he had to cartwheel his arms wildly to keep his balance when he landed.

“Wow, okay,” he muttered to himself, “So, that works then.”

He took another breath and then ran at the edge of the roof as fast as he could, jumping at the last minute. He landed on the roof of the next building and immediately face planted onto the ground. He could’ve done that a bit better but at least he’d made it. Carefully pulling himself to his feet, Logan looked at the next gap and prepared himself to go through it all again.

By the time he landed on the roof of his own building, Logan had managed to perfect the landing – or at least stop from falling over every time. This close he could hear the sounds of fighting and gunfire and distantly hoped that the other tenants had managed to get out as he pulled his gun from the waistband of his trousers and made his way down to his apartment.

The scene through his busted in door was one of pure chaos. Logan estimated that there were at least ten Manticore soldiers although, from the way The Hound was bouncing a couple of them across the room, it didn’t look like all of them were from the orphanage. Some of them must be normal soldiers who worked for Manticore.

Blaze Girl was definitely fighting someone who had powers and was currently flying in evasive patterns through the apartment as they shot electrical charges at her from their hands. Perfect Soldier was up against someone who spat a sort of corrosive liquid and another who was able to make their fists turn into stone blocks whenever they threw a punch, but Perfect Soldier seemed to be holding his own thanks to his own ability to phase in and out whenever anything got close enough to hit him.

There were now, rather ironically, fireballs being aimed at Blaze Girl as well as the electricity and Logan winced as he watched his curtains catch fire, wondering if he could somehow put them out before it spread. The answer to that was a definite no as he took a step into the apartment and immediately had to duck to avoid a thrown chair. Boo had sped out of the way of the chair before aiming a spinning kick into the stomach of the soldier who’d thrown it; she seemed to be helping The Hound mop up the ordinary soldiers. She hadn’t noticed a second soldier sneaking up behind her, however, and Logan quickly leapt over some furniture to hit the soldier with the piece of doorframe he’d grabbed.

The action attracted Boo’s attention causing her to turn away from the doubled over soldier she had been dealing with to punch the one Logan had hit.

“Thanks.” She winked at him and threw herself back into the melee.

Armed with a gun in one hand and the piece of wood in the other, Logan scanned the room to see where he’d be needed next. He decided that may be able to sneak up behind one of the guys fighting Perfect Soldier so he headed in that direction. He was half way there when he heard a surprised yelp and looked across to see Boo’s stun gun fly out of her hand and straight into the hand of a Manticore soldier.

The soldier grinned in a very familiar way but it froze as his eyes met Logan’s. Logan’s stomach twisted and he had to fight a wave of nausea. Alec brought Manticore here? But that didn’t make sense; if he had, why warn Logan first?

In a daze, Logan took a step towards Alec but a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“Logan supposed to stay!” Logan couldn’t see Joshua’s face through the mask but,from the sound of his voice, he probably looked furious. “Joshua look after Logan!”

Before Logan could argue his case a movement caught his attention. The electricity shooting soldier had turned their attention away from Blaze Girl and instead aimed their hands towards The Hound’s back. Without thinking Logan raised his gun and shot, hitting the soldier in the shoulder and causing them to drop to the ground long enough for Blaze Girl to swoop down and kick them in the head.

Logan ignored the shaking of his hands as he lowered his gun. He looked back up at The Hound. “And I look after you.”

The Hound took a deep breath and nodded but pulled Logan behind him. “If Logan fights he stays with Joshua.”

Resisting the urge to look for Alec again, Logan instead concentrated on fighting off the soldiers who kept running at The Hound as if they could find a weakness. He swapped out his piece of wood for a far heftier table leg and also discovered that kicking people with his new and improved exo-skeleton sent them flying backwards with quite a lot of force.

Eventually all the ordinary soldiers were down for the count and only the ones with abilities were left. The Hound refused to let Logan near any of _those_ and instead made him stay behind a kitchen counter while the rest of them fought, but at least Logan still had his gun if it looked like any of his friends were in serious trouble. He just prayed that he wouldn’t have to use it again.

All the Manticore soldiers were dressed exactly the same way and had similar fighting styles so it was impossible to tell them apart when their powers weren’t in use; and, because they all had the ability to blur with speed, Logan couldn’t keep track of which power was where. He kept trying though, intently staring at the fighters and trying to work out which was which. So much so that he didn’t pick up on a movement to his left.

“Logan! Get down!”

Logan just had time to register a Manticore soldier running straight for him before a gunshot went off and the soldier hit him hard, both of them crashing onto the floor.

Stunned, Logan looked up into familiar green eyes which were currently unfocused and full of pain.

“Alec?”

Alec didn’t answer and his breath had started coming in short bursts. Logan gently rolled him off and onto his back then crouched over him, running his hands over his torso looking for an injury. There was a wet patch high on Alec’s side, hidden by the black of his uniform. Logan pulled Alec’s clothing out of the way enough to see the gunshot wound then quickly pulled his own shirt off to press against it.

Alec cried out in pain and his head banged back against the floor. Instantly a large hand appeared under Alec’s head to stop it happening again and Logan looked up to see The Hound pulling Alec’s head gently into his lap.

“Alec? Alec, look at me!” Logan said but Alec just stared unseeingly at the ceiling, gritting his teeth hard enough to hurt.

All of the fighting had stopped but Logan barely noticed as he reached forward and pulled Alec’s mask off, gripping his head between his hands. “Alec look at me! That’s a fucking order, soldier!”

Alec’s eyes immediately snapped to Logan’s.

“Hurts,” he croaked.

“I know it does, but you need to stay with me,” Logan told him, barely keeping a lid on his panic. “We’re going to get you some help, just...just stay with me, okay.”

“Give him to me. I can get him to the hospital quicker,” Blaze Girl said, stepping forward.

“No!” Alec grabbed onto Logan’s arm painfully. “Don’t leave me.”

“Joshua carry Logan. Can run fast with Logan.” The Hound told Alec gently as he stroked a hand over his forehead.

Logan nodded. “I’ll be right behind you, I promise,” he told Alec.

Alec looked like he was about to protest but he was overcome with wracking coughs before his eyes rolled back into his head.

“No! Alec!” Logan cried but hands pulled him away just before Blaze Girl crouched down to pick Alec up.

“That makes things easier. At least this won’t hurt him,” she said as she straightened then lifted off the ground and flew out of the window with Alec in her arms.

A moment later Logan felt himself being picked up and slung over The Hound’s shoulder again, Perfect Soldier and Boo standing protectively at either side. The Manticore soldiers didn’t seem to know what to do. One of their brothers was hurt and their enemy appeared to be helping him.

One of them stepped forward. “We’re coming with you. And if _flying girl_ has hurt him, we’ll kill you... slowly.” She then motioned for them to move ahead of her.

They all ran down the stairs and towards the building doors but the moment they stepped outside there was a barrage of bullets.

Running back out of range Perfect Soldier turned on the Manticore ones. “What the hell are you playing at? Trying to lure us into a trap?”

The girl, who appeared to be in charge, shook her head. “They shouldn’t be here!” She pulled a radio from her belt. “This is Tango team leader. Why are you firing at us?”

There was no answer and not when she tried a second time either.

“Give me one of those!” Logan demanded, desperate to get this over with so he could get to Alec.

One of the other soldiers handed over their radio and Logan scrolled through all the frequencies.

“... _on sight. Repeat. Situation compromised. Consider all mutants unfriendlies and terminate on sight_...”

“Mutants?” Original Cindy asked.

“That’s their name for us,” One of the soldiers said and a disbelieving tone of voice, “They’re trying to kill _us_?”

OC shrugged. “Well, they _are_ evil.”

“We don’t have time for this!” Logan yelled and thumped his head against The Hound’s back in frustration.

The team leader, who Logan was now privately calling Tango, nodded her head decisively. “Okay, we’ll cause a distraction then you go,” She pointed at The Hound and Logan before turning to Perfect Soldier and Boo. “But you stay, we’ll need your help.”

Perfect Soldier looked as though all his Christmases had come at once. “We’ve got your back.” He told Tango and Boo nodded in agreement.

They took a few minutes to come up with a plan then all got into position.

Tango touched Logan’s arm. “You seem to care about Alec. Make sure he’s okay.”

Logan nodded at her, a little dazed from basically hanging upside down for so long, before Perfect Soldier ran out of the door. He ran to the left, drawing fire until the shooters realised that he’d phased out and they couldn’t actually hit him. By that time the others were already upon them, shooting fireballs and electricity, spitting acid and whatever else they could do, while Boo ran about punching as many people as she could.

In all the chaos The Hound and his load slipped away into the shadows before running at full pelt towards the Harbour Lights hospital.

***

“So that’s what you’ve been doing all this time? Hanging out with Manticore soldiers. That’s what all the secrecy has been about?”

Alec was out of surgery and was going to be okay. Logan had been allowed into his room to wait for him to wake up and Blaze Girl had followed while The Hound kept watch outside the door.

Logan was slumped on the chair next to Alec’s bed, all the adrenaline of the night gone and only relief and exhaustion left behind, as he watched Blaze Girl pace back and forth across the room.

“I wasn’t _hanging out_ , he just kept showing up. And it was only one Manticore soldier,” Logan told her tiredly.

“You should’ve told me, Logan!” Blaze Girl yanked off her mask and Logan was faced with a furious Max instead. He wasn’t sure if that was any better. “This is Manticore we’re talking about! They’re dangerous, you know that!”

“Alec rescued me from Beaumont that night; stopped them from torturing me for information on Eyes Only,” he told her, hoping that if he kept his voice calm she would follow suit, “And then he brought Joshua to me. Alec helped him escape when he thought Manticore was going to kill him and knew that I’d keep him safe. The type of guy who’d do all that wasn’t going to hurt me.”

“You don’t know that,” Max said and thankfully her voice had dropped a few decibels. “He’s been brainwashed for over ten years. It could have been a trap. _He_ could’ve been the one who told Manticore how to find you tonight.”

Logan shook his head. “I don’t know what happened or what he was doing there but Alec called me first. He told me and Joshua to get out of the apartment; he wouldn’t have done that if he was setting me up.” He raked a hand through his hair. “Jesus Christ, Max. He jumped in front of a bullet meant for me!”

All the fight left Max and she just looked sad as she dropped into the other chair. “Why didn’t you tell me? They’re my family, Logan, and you were in contact with one of them for months.”

“I’m sorry. He’s my friend and I guess I thought you’d only see him as the enemy. I didn’t think that you’d understand.” Logan sighed. “I just didn’t think.”

Max nodded and they sat in silence for a few moments. “So...friend huh? Is that what they’re calling it these days?” She looked pointedly at Logan’s hand which was holding tightly onto Alec’s.

Logan flushed but before he could answer Perfect Soldier walked into the room.

“Gear up, Max. We need Blaze Girl to help us take down Manticore.”

Both Max and Logan looked at him in confusion.

“The others are going to lead us there so that we can get everyone out before Manticore realises they’ve been compromised and moves site.”

Perfect Soldier’s eyes shone and his grin had a slight maniacal quality. _This_ was what he’d trained for all these years and Logan guessed that, once they’d realised just how expendable Manticore considered them all, Tango and the others must’ve permanently switched teams.

Max stood, pulled on her eye mask and gravely raked her eyes over Alec and Logan before turning and following Perfect Soldier out of the door. It was obviously going to take a while for her to get over this.

He moved around in his seat to look at Alec’s still form. “So...exactly how much of that did you hear?”

A small smirk appeared on Alec’s face but he kept his eyes closed. “I’m sure there was a _bit_ of hanging out.”

Logan snorted, “Well thanks for leaving me to deal with Max’s wrath all by myself.”

Alec did open his eyes at that, making them as wide and innocent looking as he could. “Hey, I’m an injured man and that woman is scary when she’s mad.”

“Tell me about it.” Logan chuckled then he squeezed Alec’s hand. “Never do that again. You scared the hell out of me.”

“It wasn’t exactly planned,” Alec answered, “If you’d just left when I told you to...”

Logan didn’t bother to point out that he _had_ left, he’d just come back. “What happened?”

“Beaumont,” Alec told him, “He decided to splash the cash to kill Eyes Only as revenge for his upcoming incarceration and got pointed in the direction of Manticore. He recognised the symbol from my uniform and when he told my superiors about the soldier who’d kicked his ass they knew it must have been me. I’d been the only one out on a mission that night.”

Alec paused and licked his lips. Logan realised that he was probably thirsty and stood to pour him some water but Alec grabbed his arm. “I tried not to tell them, Logan. But some of us can read minds and...Christ, I really tried...”

“Shh, it’s okay. I believe you,” Logan soothed and bent to kiss Alec gently before getting the water for him.

Alec took a long drink and leaned back onto his pillows. “They sent me along so that I could ‘prove my loyalty to them',” he said bitterly, “But I stole one of the handlers’ cell phone to warn you.”

“Thank you,” Logan said again but it didn’t seem like enough.

He could only imagine the trouble Alec would’ve been in when they found Logan’s place empty. He walked around to the other side of the bed and pulled back the covers, sliding underneath and very carefully arranging Alec so that he was resting against Logan. He kissed Alec’s temple and thanked him again forcing all his emotions into his voice.

They lay like that for a long while with Logan soaking up the feeling of Alec alive and safe in his arms. The sight of Alec bleeding out on his kitchen floor had forced Logan to admit to himself just how much he cared about him and Alec’s actions that night had shown him that Alec cared about him too.

Eventually Alec broke the silence. “They’re really taking Manticore down?”

“I think so,” Logan said and watched as Alec began to worry at a piece of the bed sheet. “It’s probably for the best; you working for an evil corporation and me being one of the good guys would have eventually led to arguments and just think about would that would’ve done to Joshua.”

Alec looked at him, bewildered, and Logan continued, “Obviously Joshua needs a nice, stable family and now you can join up with the superheroes and we can give that to him.”

“Family?” whispered Alec and, at Logan’s hopeful nod, smiled. “Well, if it’s for Josh...”

Logan smiled back. “Of course, we’ll have to find a new place to live. Mine’s been kind of destroyed.”

“Somewhere that has a big garden for Josh to run in,” Alec snickered, “Oh hey! If I’m a superhero now do I get a costume and some of your cool gadgets?”

Logan smirked. “There may be some jet boots in your future if you behave.”

Alec’s face lit up at that. “That’s almost as cool as your fancy new bionic legs! And I’ll need a name. Something that sums me up like...hmm...Captain Awesome!”

“I’m not calling you Captain Awesome.” Logan told him.

“Not even if I make it worth your while?” Alec leered.

Logan scoffed at that. “Not even you’re that good.”

Alec leaned closer to Logan’s ear and pitched his voice low. “I bet I could be.”

Swallowing hard, Logan shook his head; wondering just what he’d managed to get himself into but very happy that he had the chance to find out.

***

Snuggling closer to his sleeping lover Logan relished the fact that they had an entire day off – barring any emergency situations of course. They’d been up late the night before because a group of ninjas had decided to break into the Seattle Art Museum and then fallen into bed, exhausted, at some ungodly hour of the morning. Max had promised to tell Normal that Alec was sick so that he could catch up on some sleep which meant that he was entirely Logan’s until the next day.

From the smell of oil paints and the shuffling noises coming from downstairs, Joshua had found time to be inspired during his impromptu trip to the museum and would likely be occupied for hours.

Perfect.

Nuzzling into the back of Alec’s neck, which Logan knew to be especially sensitive, he started to lick and nibble gently. At the same time he moved his hand slowly from its position on Alec’s chest downwards until it was wrapped around Alec’s cock, stroking just gently enough to arouse.

Alec gave a sleepy moan and arched slightly into Logan’s hand. Smirking to himself, Logan rubbed his thumb over the head and Alec fully woke up with a gasp.

“Morning,” Logan murmured as he continued to suck a bruise at the top of Alec’s spine.

It would be gone by the next day, Logan knew, but it still gave him a possessive thrill for as long as it lasted. Alec turned his head for a sloppy kiss as he continued to thrust his hips slowly into Logan’s loose grip .

“You should wake me up like this every morning,” He said softly, barely breaking the kiss.

Logan chuckled lowly, “Then you’d never get to Jam Pony on time.”

“I’m never on time anyway,” Alec pointed out.

He pulled Logan’s hand off him and placed a kiss in the centre of the palm before turning over to face him. Holding Logan’s jaw with one hand he proceeded to give him a proper ‘good morning’ kiss that left Logan panting and slightly light headed.

Nipping at Logan’s bottom lip Alec asked, “So what exactly was your reason for dragging me away from a really good dream about mermaid strippers, Mr Cale?”

Logan shrugged. “Actually I was hoping you’d fuck me but, I mean, mermaid strippers...you don’t want to miss that.”

There was a hitch in Alec’s breath and his eyes grew dark. “No, no...let’s do your thing.”

Logan laughed as Alec sped away to grab the supplies but it changed into a groan as soon as he appeared behind him, plastered along Logan’s back with his mouth latched onto that sweet spot behind Logan’s ear. He rolled Logan almost onto his front and carefully bent one of Logan’s legs up.

Stretching his neck to give Alec more room to nuzzle, Logan gasped as he felt a slick finger enter him.

“You always feel so good,” Alec said against Logan’s skin.

A second finger, then three and Logan moaned at how full he felt as Alec stretched him.

“More, Alec,” Logan pleaded and cried out as Alec twisted his fingers to hit just the right spot.

“God, look at you.” Alec’s voice was full of awe as he looked down at Logan spread out before him, writhing against the sheets. Even after all this time it seemed that Alec still didn’t quite believe that he could have this.

“Please, Alec, I’m ready. Need you.” Logan said; his voice rough and desperate.

The fingers were removed but quickly replaced by the feeling of Alec pushing into him. Logan dropped his head to the pillow, panting, as Alec moved into him in one slow steady slide until he was entirely inside.

Alec placed his head on the back of Logan’s shoulder as he gathered himself then he moved so that his mouth was next to Logan’s ear. “Say it.”

It had been almost a year but Logan knew exactly what Alec was talking about and shook his head.

“Just this once,” Alec breathed seductively, his voice only revealing the barest hint of strain at the effort to hold back.

“No!” Logan turned his head towards Alec’s. “It’s not even your name, _Golden Boy_.”

Alec sucked Logan’s bottom lip into his mouth and bit it gently. “It’s my name in this room and you know it. Just say it.”

Logan shook his head again and Alec rocked into him a tiny bit. “Fuck, Alec! Move please.”

“Just say it, Logan, and I’ll give it to you exactly the way you want it.” Alec rocked his hips in that frustratingly minute motion again and then again until Logan was ready to scream. Then he eased his hand under Logan’s body and lazily danced his fingers far too lightly over Logan’s cock.

“Fine!” Logan exploded, “You’re Captain fucking Awesome! Now just move for the love of...” He broke off with a loud cry as Alec suddenly pulled all the way out and slammed back in, hitting Logan’s prostate perfectly.

After that Alec completely let go and everything dissolved into the hard and rough and amazing feeling of Alec pushing into him, and stroking him, over and over again. Alec’s voice murmuring into his ear, low and dirty, telling him how hot Logan felt around him, how good he looked under him. Until, finally, white lights burst behind his eyes and he screamed Alec’s name before he felt Alec arch over him with an answering cry.

“I think you broke me,” Logan muttered into his pillow some time later when he'd regained the ability to talk.

Alec dropped down into an exhausted and sweaty heap next to him. “Well I am Capt...hey!” He complained as Logan smacked him lazily. Then with a chuckle, Alec pulled a completely boneless Logan out of the wet spot until he was draped across Alec’s chest then tangled their legs together.

“S’nice,” Logan slurred sleepily as he nuzzled his head against Alec’s shoulder, “Can we stay like this for a week or so?”

“Sure,” Alec replied as he ran his hand up and down Logan’s back, “It’s your job to tell Zack though.”

Logan groaned at the memory that Zack was back in town, there went his snuggle week. “Can’t someone else help train them?”

Alec shrugged. “It is my turn and you know how he gets.”

Perfect Soldier was in his element training up new groups of superheroes and then taking them out across the country to where they’d be needed most. Logan thought back to the time Osprey had to cancel his turn to be Perfect Soldier’s training assistant due to a _minor_ case of broken leg and decided that it would be best if Alec just went. No one needed to see a tantrum like that again.

“At least we’ve got the rest of the day,” Alec told him and Logan hummed contentedly in agreement.

The whole day Alec was his.

There was a sudden hammering on the door. “Stop getting busy now! Max needs Alec! Men with freeze guns at bank! Need to go!” Joshua yelled before running back downstairs.

“You had to tempt fate, didn’t you?” Logan glared at Alec but there wasn’t any heat in it. “Bring me back a freeze gun; I want to see how they work.”

Alec grinned at him as he slipped out of the bed and pulled on his golden costume, complete with fitted t-shirt and jet boots - although Logan’s favourite part were definitely the tight leather trousers.

Pulling on his eye mask, Alec leaned over the bed and kissed Logan. “Be back soon.” Then he ran out of the room and down the stairs with a whoop which was joined by Joshua’s whoops as they both left the house.

Logan listened to his family with a grin on his face and then dragged himself out of bed to hack into the bank’s surveillance. But not before pinching himself to confirm that, yes, this was his life.

The End


End file.
